God is gracious.

When we look at Jessie, we cannot help but be reminded that God has been extremely gracious with us.

The manner in which Krabbe disease manifested in Judson’s body reflects how God has His loving hand upon us.  90% of children with Krabbe disease are afflicted with symptoms within the first several months of life.  If this had occurred with Jud, we never would have had Jessie; this is a genetic disease and our offspring have a 50% chance of being afflicted (once you already have a child affected by the disease), so having more children is really not an option.  However, since Jessie was born before we were aware of the disease and prior to symptoms manifesting in Jud’s body, we were blessed with the gift of our precious baby girl, who is only a carrier of Krabbe (just like Drake and me).

We were extremely surprised to be pregnant with Jessie only 10 months after Jud was born.  Our pregnancy with him was such a shock that having another child so quickly baffled us.  Now, even more, our hearts are amazed at the gift we have been given in Jessie.

To simply ponder the thought of walking this path of grief without our “Sweet Bug” brings sadness, but quickly, upon its heels, emerges an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the blessing we have been given in our little “Jessie girl.”

Jessie means “God is gracious,” and every time we look at her, we know this to be true!